WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2010

COUNTY LEGISLATOR MILLER-WILLIAMS SEEKING ANSWERS TO LOW-INCOME DAYCARE GRANT DISCONTINUATION

Erie County Legislator Barbara Miller-Williams (D-Buffalo, 3rd District) is sponsoring a resolution at the January 7, 2010, session requesting that County Social Services Commissioner Carol Dankert explain why the county is discontinuing child care grants for certain Erie County residents, and to detail what steps are being taken to mitigate child care funding discontinuance for these families.

Legislator Miller-Williams explained that the county Department of Social Services administers a child care block grant through New York State that funds the cost of day care services for the children of low-income county residents and people eligible through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program. The Department announced a significant cutback in the program by scaling back eligibility from the current income level of 200 percent above the poverty level to 125 percent. This eliminates from the program more than 1,500 Erie County children, 42 percent of the current recipients.

"This program has become a valuable asset in tough economic times for families who are seeking gainful employment and for those who already have jobs but cannot afford the cost of child care while seeking or holding a job," Legislator Miller-Williams said. "I am alarmed at the understandable outcry from my constituents and other county residents affected. They were given little notice of the termination of their child care grants, and in some instances, people have been billed by day care providers due to the lack of a required notification to end child care."

The resolution sponsored by Legislator Miller-Williams calls for Dankert to attend the next meeting of the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee to explain why the program has been discontinued for so many people and what steps to address the situation are being taken.

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